Victorians are four times more likely to die on rural roads, with a disproportionate number of country people losing their lives.
Victoria’s Road Safety Strategy and Action plan, Towards Zero 2016-2020, includes $340 million to reduce the road toll and upgrade more than 2,500 kilometres of rural and regional roads across the state.
Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney MP today welcomed the investment which includes an upgrade to approximately 12 kilometres of the Great Ocean Road from Bellbrae to Anglesea – a stretch of road has a high crash rate.
Centre-line barriers and/or wide centre-lines, with tactile edge lines, will reduce the likelihood and severity of crashes that occur when people make mistakes when driving, saving lives and reducing serious injuries.
High-speed rural roads that carry medium volumes of traffic will be safer with the
installation of rumble strips and wide centre-lines to better separate oncoming traffic.
These have been shown to reduce the number of lane-departure crashes on these sections by as much as 49 per cent.
Curve treatments like advance warning signs and reflective guide posts will also be
installed to make it safer and easier for people to navigate windy roads.
Nearly half of all road deaths and a quarter of all serious injuries happen on roads posted
at 100 and 110km/h. The installation of 330kms of flexible barriers will help to reduce run-off road and head-on crashes by up to 85 per cent on these sections.
The package is a key component of Towards Zero 2016-2020 – Victoria’s most ambitious action plan to reduce our road toll to below 200 by 2020.
Quotes attributable to Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney MP:
“Victorians are four times more likely to die on rural roads. If we want to reduce the road toll, our efforts need to begin in regional Victoria.”
“Everyone in our community knows someone who has lost a loved one to the road toll. These upgrades will make the Great Ocean Road safer, and save lives.”
“These safety improvements will deliver significant benefits where the most fatalities happen – on country roads.”